All England Open 2018: Saina Nehwal crashes out in opening hurdle, shown the door by her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying

By:News Nation Bureau

Last Updated:Wednesday, 14 March 2018 11:07 PM

New Delhi:

Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All England Open 2018 after losing to world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying 14-21, 18-21 in the first round at Birmingham on Wednesday.

The last five editions of All England Open were more fruitful for the Indian Badminton ace as she had qualified at least for the quarter-finals.

This is only the third time Saina has lost in the opening round, since making her All England debut in 2007. The current world no.11 has lost to Tzu Ying in the eight consecutive games, the last being the final of the Indonesia Masters 2018.

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Saina looked out of rhythm for the maximum part of the game whereas Tzu Ying played to her strengths in full flow. Current world No.1 Tzu Ying played smart drop shots and Saina struggled to cope with that throughout the match. Saina tried to stretch the second game but the Chinese Taipei star was always a step ahead.

Tai Tzu Ying will next face the winner of the match between Kirsty Gilmour and Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan. In other matches, PV Sindhu will face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong and Kidambi Srikanth will lock horns with Frenchman Brice Leverdez.